Emblem Company
by firedude
Summary: FE7: WWII has broken out and the 82nd Airborne Division has been assembled for the invasion of Europe to combat the Axis. The story of the fire emblem characters in WWII. Pairings will appear later. M rating for violence in later chapters.
1. Camp Claiborne

**Emblem Company**

Firedude: Hello everyone, I haven't submitted any writing in a while so I figured it was time again. I've been in a World War 2 mood as of late so I decided to experiment with a World War II Fire Emblem fanfiction. I think the concept is pretty good, but I hope I followed through with it pretty well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters. I apologize for any historical inaccuracies that might occur in this story.

Firedude: I hope this goes well, Ready? Set? On with the show.

**Chapter 1: Camp Claiborne**

**Somewhere in Louisiana, March 24****th**** 1942**

A large bus zipped down a highway somewhere in Louisiana, heading eastward at a decent pace. A man in a green jacket and messy brown hair sat at the front of the nearly empty bus with a duffel bag next to him. The only other people on the bus were four other men, sitting in the back talking rather loudly about the only topic there was worth talking about now a days. Everyone knew, it had been practically the only news over the past three months. The war was on, people from all around the country were volunteering to defend their homeland and defeat the evil axis. The man in the green jacket sat silently, listening to the rowdy men in the back talk with each other about how they had enlisted and why they were fighting. The man was barely able to make out what they were saying over the hum of the engine, except for a few racist slurs about the axis. The man in the green jacket gave up trying to listen in on them and started to nod off, tired from the long journey he had been on. He was about to doze off, when he felt something solid connect with the back of his head.

The man lurched forward and grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked to the floor to see what had hit him, a football. The brown leather of the ball was rather ratty and had been clearly used often. He heard some quick footsteps up the aisle of the bus and looked over to see one of the young men standing next to him. "I'm sorry sir, the ball kind of just slipped out of my hands, I didn't mean to hit you." The man in the green jacket looked over the young man, he had dark green hair and a head band around his forehead. He was wearing a similar jacket to him, but with a single sewn onto the jacket, showing he was a private. The man raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's your name kid?" The young man scowled at him and shot back, "Who're you to ask me?" The man stood up, showing he was a few good inches taller than him and had two stripes on his arm. "A higher ranking soldier." The young man's eye widened and he panicked a little. He immediately straightened his posture and saluted, "Sorry sir, Private Guy reporting for duty." The man just laughed as he handed his ball back. "Relax Guy, we're not even on the base. I'm Mark." He said patting him on the shoulder.

Guy blushed and stopped saluting immediately, "Thank you Corporal, I mean, Mark." Mark couldn't help but smile a little bit. "Where you from?" Guy was a bit more at ease now, feeling a friendly glow coming from Mark rather than the authoritarian one he was expecting from a higher ranking soldier. "Brooklyn sir, what about you?" Mark nodded and replied, "Manhattan, who are your friends in the back?" Guy quickly glanced towards the back and motioned towards the others. "They're a few other recruits. Would you like to meet the others sir?" Mark looked to the three other young men in the back and shrugged, "Why not?" Guy lead him to the back and motioned to Mark, "Guys, this is Corporal Mark. Mark, these are privates Kent, Sain and Matthew." Only two of the three rose and saluted Mark. "Please, please don't salute me." He nodded to the two before glancing to the third who didn't stand.

"What's your name?" The man looked up at him and replied, "Matthew, I went to high school with Guy in Brooklyn. Sorry I didn't salute, my legs are just so tired from this bus ride." He said in a joking tone. Mark let out a small laugh and thought to himself, 'A funny guy, eh? This guy's probably not going to last long in boot camp.' He then looked over to the other two. "So that must mean you two are Sain and Kent? Where are you guys from?" The orange haired one nodded and replied, "Yes sir, I'm Kent and this is my friend Sain. We grew up together in Ohio." The brown hair one leaned forward in his seat a little and grinned at Mark. "So Mark, you've been to one of these camps before right? Are the nurses any good looking?" Mark let out an amused laugh, "Careful round those girls, you try to take it out around them and you'll get it ripped off." The other three laughed at this, but Sain just winced. "That's never stopped you before though Sain, so why think twice now? You might even get a purple heart." Kent said to Sain with a smile. Sain shook his head and replied back, "Medals don't mean anything unless you've got the equipment to back it up."

As the four continued to laugh and joke around, Mark zoned out and began to think about this for a minute. He began to get a feeling of worry. It was true that he was a corporal, but like them he had never seen combat before. He couldn't help but start to worry that maybe these men would be killed, so why start to get close to them. "Mark... hey Mark!" He snapped out of it as someone called out to him. He looked over at Guy as he continued, "What division are you joining?" Mark blinked a few times trying to think. "Oh, I volunteered for the 82nd airborne infantry division." Guy beamed as Mark informed him of this. "That's awesome! The four of us are joining them too!" Mark felt his heart drop a little, this was only filling him with more fear little by little. Kent raised an eyebrow and added, "You must be heading for camp Claiborne too then. Hope you make it through the training Mark." Mark smiled and nodded to him. "Same to you Kent... if you excuse me I've got something to take care of..." Mark said giving the four a nod goodbye as he turned and walked back to his things. He sat there in silence, doing his best not to think of the approaching war and how the four men he had just met could be potential casualties.

Half an hour later, the bus pulled up to Camp Claiborne and they stepped out. The five stood there silently for a minute just looking at the front entrance of the base. They were snapped out of it by the sound of the bus zooming off towards its next stop. The five stepped hesitantly up to the front as a MP stopped them from entering. "Division?" The man asked flat out as he held clip board at his side. Matthew rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Look man, why do we have to be so formal? Can't you just let us in?" The MP clearly wasn't in the mood for this, for he glared over at Matthew and repeated, "State your Division." Mark but in before things could get worse and motioned to himself and the other four saying, "We're with the 82nd Airborne Infantry, please excuse my friend, it's been a long morning.." The man looked over his clipboard and nodded. "Right, Head to the auditorium at the south end of the base." The MP stepped aside allowing the five men to walk through. When they were a few yards away, Matthew looked back and flipped the MP off, who luckily for him was turned the other way.

Mark glared at him and grabbed him by the back of the collar. "Stop that! Are you looking to get killed!?" Matthew looked over at Mark and glared at him. He shrugged off his hand and replied, "Relax will ya? Jesus, you're as stiff as that guy. What's the worse that could happen?" Mark scowled at him and replied, "Things work differently here than they do back where you come from. You could be put up against a wall and shot for being insolent to your superiors." Matthew kept his eyes locked on Mark's and shot back, "Relax you fucking Heeb! I just flipped the guy off, it wasn't like I beat the shit out of him!" Mark took a step closer to Matthew, prepared to get him back for the slur. However, Guy stepped between them and pushed them away as Sain and Kent held them back. "Hey! No fighting!" Guy called looking between the two. Matthew shrugged Kent off his shoulders and continued to walk towards the auditorium.

Guy looked over to Mark and bowed his head to him a little. "I'm sorry about him, sometimes he let's himself mouth off before thinking." Mark just watched Matthew as he walked further and further away. "It's alright Guy, you should go after him. Make sure he doesn't make anymore trouble for himself." Guy nodded and ran after him. Mark looked over to Sain and Kent and said, "I'll see you two at the auditorium." The two nodded to him as he walked off towards the auditorium as well. Sain looked over to Kent and whispered, "What made Matthew call Mark a Jew?" Kent looked over at him and replied. "You didn't notice the star of david around his neck?" As Mark continued to walk he fiddled with the star that hung from the golden chain around his neck. After some consideration, he hid the insignia inside his shirt, deciding it may be for the best for now.

At the auditorium, the large room was packed full of new recruits, waiting for the introduction that was going to be provided. On the stage in front of the room, a large sign was hung up that read, **Welcome Airborne**. Banners all around the room bore the various Airborne insignias, eagles, double A's, and a winged panther on one of the more prominent posters. After a few minutes of talking, silence eventually fell over the audience as an old man walked out on stage. His white hair and beard glistened in the lights of the room, along with a chest full of medals that hung from his army uniform. The old man looked over the large crowd and called out, "My name is Major General Athos. I am in charge of the 82nd Airborne Division. I would like to start off by welcoming back any men who served during the first World War in our infantry division who decided to rejoin as airborne to combat the Axis that once again threats our freedom. Next, I would like to welcome the many new recruits who have volunteered to join the division. I applaud your bravery for joining, however I must take this time to remind you that this will not be an easy task to undertake. If you have any thoughts in your head right now that you will pass basic training without even breaking a sweat, you better think twice."

Mark sat silently in the audience, listening to Athos' seemingly never ending speech. I think most of it was just scare tactics, trying to weed out those who would be too weak for the airborne. As Athos talked about how not everyone here would survive the oncoming war if they joined the army and how the man next to them may be dead their first battle, Mark began to have some second thoughts. He had no fear of fighting this war, he was ready to fight for his country and for all the jews imprisoned in Europe, however being able to deal with the deaths of his comrades was what he was afraid of. He was not going to let his fears overcome him though, he wouldn't slip up. Seeing no signs in the auditorium that said no smoking, Mark pulled out a cigarette and lit it up with a match from his pocket. The nicotine in the cigarette calmed his nerves a bit, dropping the worries that were recently building up within him.

His attention was briefly pulled away from the Major General when he noticed something odd. Near the front of the left section of seats in the auditorium, there were women there. These women weren't nurses though, they were dressed in cadet outfits like the rest of the men here. Mark began to feel a bit skeptical. He was pretty sure no women had fought for America until now, he knew they made excellent nurses and doctors, but as soldiers? He wouldn't let himself judge now, for all he knew they could be as good of soldiers as them. They may not even be taking part in actual combat, who knows? He directed his attention back to Athos just in time to hear him finish his speech. "Though you may have volunteered for this, you still have a long way before you may call yourselves paratroopers." The soldiers all rose from their seat and saluted the Major General and he saluted back. "Good luck to you all!" The soldiers all then dispersed and left the auditorium. A bulletin board outside the auditorium had all the battalions, companies, platoons and squads listed. Mark looked over the list and raised an eyebrow. He was apart of the First Battalion, Emblem Company, Second Platoon. There were apparently four squads within his platoon, the head of their platoon was a First Sergeant named Elbert... why did that sound so familiar to him?

2nd Platoon- First Sergeant Elbert

1st squad- Staff Sergeant Fargus

Cpl. Eliwood

Cpl. Marcus

Pfc. Dart

Pfc. Geitz

Pvt. Wil

Pvt. Lowen

Pvt. Merlinus

Pvt. Legault

Pvt. Harken

2nd squad- Sergeant Uther

Cpl. Hector

Cpl. Oswin

Pfc. Karel

Pfc. Rath

Pvt. Matthew

Pvt. Erk

Pvt. Heath

Pvt. Guy

Pvt. Canas

3rd squad- Sergeant Pent

Cpl. Mark

Cpl. Hawkeye

Pfc. Dorcas

Pfc. Bartre

Pvt. Kent

Pvt. Sain

Pvt. Lucius

Pvt. Jaffar

Pvt. Raven

4th squad- Sergeant Isadora

Cpl. Farina

Cpl. Lyn

Pfc. Louise

Pfc. Fiora

Pvt. Rebecca

Pvt. Florina

Pvt. Serra

Pvt. Karla

Pvt. Nino

Mark actually felt slightly relieved to see that Kent, Sain and Guy were in his platoon, it made him feel better knowing that he knew a few people. Much to his dismay though, he saw Matthew was also in his platoon. It wasn't going to help him having a racist bastard come with him into combat. The thing that really made Mark sweat a little was the fourth squad. He wasn't expecting a female squad to be apart of their platoon. He wasn't going to be quick to judge though, he'd wait to see what would happen first during training. He got the number of the barracks he was supposed to report to and worked his way out of the crowd around the bulletin board. As he got out of the crowd and began to walk away, he stopped as he heard someone calling into the crowd. "Excuse me! Please let me through!" Mark spotted a woman with a long green pony tail call into the crowd, trying to work her way up to the bulletin board but wasn't making any progress. Mark sighed and walked over to the young woman. "Do you need any help?" The young woman turned around to face him and gave him a soft smile. "Oh, hello. Yes, I need to see the bulletin board to see which squad I'm apart of, but no one's letting me through and I'd rather not push my way up there."

Mark nodded and asked, "What's your name? I could go look for you." The girl smiled and replied, "Thank you, my name is Corporal Lyn, you are?" Mark smiled and replied, "I'm Corporal Mark. There's actually no need for me to go up there, you're in my platoon." She blinked a few times, surprised by the info. "Really? I'm thought I was being placed in a platoon of all women?" Mark shrugged and replied, "You're in a squad of all women, but I can't tell you why you're not in an all women platoon. It's alright though, you're in the barracks across the way from us. I can bring you there if you want." Lyn gave him a small bow and added, "Yes, that would be-." she was cut off by feeling someone grab her ass. Her quiet and polite manner suddenly disappeared and a fierce expression crossed her face. She whirled around and delivered a hard punch to the face of the man behind her. "Don't you dare touch me you pig!" Mark stood there with his jaw dropped, amazed at how strong she was. The man went flying back into another soldier who was knocked over by him, "Hey watch it!" He yelled as he began to punch the man who had flown into him, but another soldier jumped in as well and before Mark knew it, a fight had broken out amongst the whole crowd. "Er... whoops." Lyn said a little bit embarrassed by what had happened.

Mark quickly grabbed her hand and lead her away from the crowd quickly as MP's came over to break up the fight. Once they were far enough away, Mark looked back to make sure no MP's might've followed them, then over to Lyn. "Holy shit you're strong!" He exclaimed, still shocked by what he had seen. "That guy had to have had at least a hundred pounds on you, but you knocked him out just like that!" Lyn let out a small laugh, amused by his reaction. "What? Surprised at how powerful a woman can be? ...By the way you can let go of my hand now." Mark noticed that he was still holding her hand and blushed as he let go. "Oh, sorry about that." He looked around and noticed they had actually ran to right outside where their barracks were. "I guess we're here. Good luck with your training Lyn, I hope I see you again." Lyn smiled as she walked away towards her squad's barracks. "Likewise Mark, see you around." Mark waited until she was gone before he entered his own barracks to meet with the rest of his squad. 'There are some quite interesting people in my platoon... I still can't help but think which ones might be gone by the end of this war...'

Firedude: I hope you liked it, please review the chapter, flames are open and please give me any criticism you might have. Reviews keep me motivated to keep writing so if you want to read more, please leave at least a small review.


	2. Purgatory

1**Emblem Company**

Firedude: Alright I got some reviewers! Thank you to those who reviewed, I will always respond to any questions you ask, and although you've replied once please continue to because as I've said it helps to motivate me. And remember, flames and criticism are always welcome.

Verdanucci DiGardo: I've got most of the story planned out already, so that's not a problem. I'm going to try to keep a degree of historical accuracy with this story, though it may be hard so I may need to change a few things here and there.

Master of the Game: Thanks, I was interested to see if the story would go over well with people, so far so good. As for Dart in the Navy, yeah, I had originally planned to put Dart and Fargus into the Navy, but I realized as I developed the story that the Navy would end up having very little to do, so I just stuck them in the airborne with everyone else.

Rayestar Ikina: Thank you, I felt the most comfortable picking Fire Emblem seven because I knew the characters the best and it was my favorite. Good luck with your version when you get to it :D.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters. I apologize for any historical inaccuracies that might occur in this story.

Firedude: Alright, here comes the next chapter of the Emblem Company series. Ready? Set? On with the show!

**Chapter 2: Purgatory**

Mark stepped into his squad's barracks and looked on the wall by the door. A piece of paper on the wall had a list of bed arrangements for the company, Mark's bed was located all the way near the end, second to last. As he began to make his walk down the aisle towards his bed he got a first look at the members of his squad. The first bed he walked by had no one by it at the moment, but the footlocker had three stripes on it, must be the squad sergeant. The next three men he walked by though made him feel very puny. All three of them were at least six inches taller than him and were packed with large muscles. One of them had brown hair and his grammar was so bad, Mark could barely make out what he was saying. The red haired man he was talking too seemed to be ignoring him as well, he was standing in the mirror trying to shave the five o'clock shadow he had the developed. The third man just silently sat on the footlocker at the end of his bed, he was definitely the largest of the three. He had tanned skin and long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, he had a muscle shirt on that showed off the black tribal tattoos he had on his collar bone. Mark tried not to stare though and kept walking.

The next man had light red hair and was silently sitting on the edge of his bed, sharpening a knife with a spare belt he had. That knife was definitely not army regulated, it was a large silver dagger with some black writing engraved on the side. The man was sharpening the knife so fast, Mark couldn't make out the words. He wasn't really in a particular mood to ask though, cause the man had a look in his eyes, as though he was ready to kill anyone that messed with him. "Hey Mark!" He looked over to see Sain and Kent by the next two beds. "Glad to see you're stuck with us bud, how have you been? Have you seen the girls in our platoon yet!? Man! They're smoking!" As Sain continued to ramble on and on about the girls, Mark had a flash back to Lyn knocking out that other soldier by accident. "Er... I wouldn't mess with them if I were you Sain, you might get yourself hurt." Sain let out a small laugh and punched Mark in the arm playfully. "They're girls Mark, how strong can they be?" Kent shook his head, he must've known just as well as Mark how powerful these girls were, and also knew Sain would have his share of broken bones by the end of boot camp. Mark just patted Sain on the shoulder with that and kept walking. The next man... if you could call him that had long blonde hair. Mark had a hard time figuring out whether he was a man or a woman, and wasn't going to ask out of risk of offending him... or her.

Mark finally made it to his bed and placed his duffel bag down. As he began to put all his things away, he began to smell cigarette smoke. He looked up from his footlocker to the man neighboring him, who had the last bed in the row. He stood leaning against the wall in uniform ready to get started with training. He had a cigarette situated in the corner, it slowly burned away as time passed. His hair was deep, dark red and the expression on his face made it seem like he was always pissed off. Mark thought maybe he could try his luck introducing himself to the guy. Once he finished with his footlocker, he stood up with a smile and outstretched his hand to him. "Hi, I'm Corporal Mark." The man just took the cigarette from his mouth and blew some smoke into Mark's face. "Congratulations." He said flat out before he went back to smoking. Asshole. "Raven, at least try to be a little courteous please." Mark looked back to see the man... or woman with the long blonde hair had joined them. "Do I look like I fucking care Lucius?" he asked as he blew a smoke ring. Lucius, Mark was sure that was a guy's name. "No... no I suppose not." he said with a sigh as he shook his head. He then turned towards Mark and outstretched his hand. "I'm Private Lucius. Please forgive him he's always been like that, he's private Raven by the way." Mark clasped his hand and gave him a firm shake. "Nice to meet you too, I've handled guys like your friend before, so don't mind me."

"Ten-hut!" A commanding voice echoes throughout the barracks and all the men in the squad stood at attention in front of their beds, not daring to move. The voice came from a man with silver hair standing in the doorway. He didn't look old, so the hair must be premature. After a few seconds of silence, the man continued with another call, "My name is Sergeant Pent... I'm in charge of this squad. I promise you, under my guidance, everyone of you will make it through here at Camp Claiborne. Now be lined up outside in full uniform in five minutes!" Everyone replied, Yes sir, simultaneously before he called out, "Move out!" Everyone began to scurry to get their uniforms on, except for Raven who casually strolled out of the barracks, already dressed completely in uniform. Finished up his cigarette and placed it in the ashtray on his way out. "So what exactly is that guy's deal?" Mark whispered over to Lucius as he got dressed in a hurry. Lucius sighed as he pulled a boot on, "He's always been a very angry person, always getting into fights in high school and such. I guess that's why he joined the army, to vent out some of that anger."

Five minutes later, everyone in the platoon was assembled outside in perfect rows and columns. Mark didn't the platoon sergeant around anywhere so he began to look to his sides to see who he was near in his platoon. He noticed Guy to his left and whispered over to him, "Psst, hey Guy." Guy looked over and smiled when he saw he was standing next to Mark. "Hey mark, how does your squad look?" he whispered back. "Alright I guess, I'm with Sain and Kent so I guess that's good. What about you?" Guy cracked his neck and replied, "I'm with Matthew, but our squad leader seems kinda cold." The man behind Guy kicked him lightly and whispered, "Hey, don't talk shit about my brother. He's just seen battle before that's all." Guy looked back at the man with the blue hair who had kicked him and then back to Mark. "Oh yeah, Mark this is Corporal Hector. Hector, this is Corporal Mark." Hector gave a nod to Mark as he raised an eyebrow. "You're Sergeant Uther's brother? You certainly look a lot like him." Hector gave him a puzzled look and asked, "You know my brother?" Mark shrugged a little and replied, "Not personally, but I heard about some of what he did back in World War One."

"You people are at a position of attention!" A man with bright red hair and a mustache yelled out as he came out from one of the barracks. The people who were starting to relax immediately shot to attention and faced forward. No one dared to step out of line as the man walked around, inspecting the men. As Mark caught a glimpse of the red mustached man's face as he came by. 'Now I remember the name, First Sergeant Elbert. He's a World War One vet, and a decorated war hero. It's damn lucky I got stuck with him.' Elbert got up in the face of the man in front of Mark. "What's your name private?" The man in front of Mark straightened up and replied, "Lowen sir!" Elbert used a finger to move Lowen's bushy hair from his eyes and added, "How do you expect to fight a war with all that hair in your eyes!? Go to the barber right now and get that cut, then take a lap around the base." Lowen nodded and jogged off in the direction of the barber. Mark felt kind of bad for him, it had to be at least a mile around the base. Elbert walked down the line towards another soldier and looked at the stripes sewn onto the side of his arm. "When did you sew these stripes onto your outfit Private Canas?" The man had dark purple hair and a monocle on one eye. "Oh um, this morning sir." Elbert shook his head and continued, "Pretty crappy job Private, return to your barracks and re-sew them, then take a lap." Canas jogged off towards his barracks, his head hung a little in embarrassment.

Elbert continued to walk through the rows and columns of soldiers until he came to a petite girl with long light purple hair. She fidgeting and shaking terribly, even more so when Elbert stopped in front of her. "What's wrong private?" The poor girl gulped and did her very best to sputter out a reply. "W-W-Well s-s-sir... I... I-." Elbert leaned in a little closer. "I can't hear you private!" The girl began to tear a little as she still stammered trying to get out what she was trying to say. Elbert rolled his eyes and said, "You gotta toughen up private, this is the army not your best friend's sleep over. Take a lap around the camp." The girl quickly ran off, relieved to get away from the angry sergeant. The next girl over, glared at Elbert from underneath her dark blue hair. "Bastard..." She muttered to herself as Elbert walked by. Elbert must've heard it, because he stopped and turned towards the girl. "Is there something you want to say Corporal Farina?" The girl looked straight ahead as though she said nothing and replied, "No sir, nothing at all." Elbert looked down at Farina's shirt to see that it was unbuttoned almost halfway down, exposing her cleavage. "Corporal, button up your shirt and take two laps." Farina grumbled as she buttoned it up all the way and jogged off.

Elbert continued walking until he came to Lucius. He took one look at him and raised an eyebrow. "Name and rank." He said flat out, Lucius stiffened up and replied, "Private Lucius sir, Medic." Elbert looked at his long blonde hair and let out an amused laugh. "We need soldiers for this war Private, not alter boys." Lucius blushed as the Sergeant made fun of him for the way he looked. "But if you do want to be an alterboy, the company chaplain is always looking-." Elbert was cut off by someone calling out, "Shut up!" Elbert stood there silently for a minute before turning around and calling out, "Who said that?" A small laugh came from nearby and the man repeated, "Oh I'm sorry, I guess you didn't hear me the first time. Shut up and get the hell outta my friend's face." Elbert looked over to see Raven was the one mouthing off to him. Elbert walked over to him and got into his face.

"...You've got a lot of guts taking that tone of voice with me Private." Raven looked into Elbert's eyes, a look of defiance deep within his. "Do your worst." Elbert glared and replied, "Take Ten laps Private. Then come see me at my office." Raven nonchalantly strolled off towards the edge of the camp where he would start running. Lucius watched Raven as he walked off, a look of sadness in his eyes. Mark had to admit, the guy was a prick, but he had guts and he stands up for his friends. "This platoon oughta be ashamed of itself! Never in my military career have I seen a platoon with this many problems! I was planning on giving you all the first day off, but because of the infractions committed by this platoon's men and women, training will start today!" Mark gulped and shook his head a little, 'Shit, this guy's a real hard-ass isn't he!?' Elbert looked around a little bit before yelling out, "What are you waiting for troops!? Get moving!"

That night, everyone in Mark's squad sat around the barracks, feeling exhausted from the day they had. Mark laid on his bed tired, every muscle in his body aching. "Shit... that was terrible!" He head Sain call out, who was fairing no better than he was. Kent grumbled and smacked Sain on the side of the head, "Stop complaining! It only gets harder from here on!" Kent said, but even he was weak kneed as he tried to walk over towards his bed. Raven stomped into the barracks, he was actually in surprisingly good condition for what he had to go through today. He sat down on the foot of his bed and lit up a cigarette. "How'd it go Raven!?" The large illiterate man yelled over to him. Raven silently blew a stream of smoke from his mouth and replied, "It was okay, after my nice little jog the sergeant stuck me with latrine duty for the next two weeks." Lucius looked over to Raven and frowned, "Hey Raven... thanks for today." Raven simply laid back on his bed and replied, "Yeah whatever, we may be out of high school, but nothing's changed Lucius..." Lucius frowned and replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right..."

Mark brought himself up to his feet and muttered, "I'm gonna get a drink of water..." He walked out the front door of the barracks and over to a nearby water pump. He wasn't too surprised to see that someone was already there. Lyn stood there bent over the pump getting herself some water. Once she stood up to take a drink from the bucket she just filled, she noticed Mark nearby and gave him a smile. "Oh, hello Mark." She said as she took a drink and let out a satisfied sigh afterward. "How was your day?" Mark let out a small laugh and replied, "The same as yours, you seem to be holding up pretty well though." Lyn shrugged as she finished taking another drink. "Well, I grew up on a farm all my life, so I'm used to hard work." Mark took a seat on the nearby ground and took out a cigarette. "Really? Where are you from? Kansas?" She shook her head and replied, "France." He spat the cigarette from his mouth and stammered out, "F-France!?" Her hand flew over his mouth and she scowled. "Hey! Quiet! Jeez, what's the big deal!?"

Mark blushed a little, embarrassed at the outburst. "I'm sorry, I guess I just didn't expect it. I mean, you're English is perfect." Lyn laughed a little and replied, "My parents taught me at a young age, they thought it'd be helpful." Mark placed the cigarette back in his mouth as he asked, "So, what are you doing here in America?" Lyn stopped mid-drink and lowered the bucket. She starred down into the water as she thought about it. "I originally had no plans to come to America, but when the Nazis invaded... they..." A silence fell between them for the next minute. Mark felt bad, because he knew he had hit a sore spot. "I-I'm sorry, please you don't have to tell me more if you don't want." Lyn gave him a small smile and replied, "Thank you..." She placed her bucket down and stretched a little. "Well then, I should head back to my cabin, good bye for now Mark." She said with a wave as she walked back towards her barracks.

Mark watched her walk away then took another bucket from nearby and began to pump it full. As he began to drink it, he heard someone walk up and ask, "May I have a drink corporal?" Mark removed the bucket from his lips to see who it was. Sergeant Pent stood before him, looking as though he had barely broken a sweat from the work out. "Oh, yes sir go right ahead." He said offering the bucket to him. Pent took a quick drink from the bucket before handing it back. "So, what do you think of Camp Claiborne so far Corporal?" Mark finished taking another drink of water before he shook put on a small smile and replied, "It's hell sir." Pent just laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Oh no Mark, you'll learn soon enough. This isn't hell, this is only purgatory. The real hell awaits once you finish your training here. Good night Corporal." Pent said as he walked back towards the barracks. Mark stood there with his bucket of water, thinking about what the Sergeant had just told him. 'This is only purgatory... he's damn right. This is no where near as bad as hell with how it's going to get when we're done her..." Mark dumped out the rest of his water and walked back towards the barracks as well.

Firedude: Sorry if the chapter may have seemed boring, hope you enjoyed it though. Please I'd like to remind you again, please post up reviews, even if you've already post a review for the story, it keeps me inspired to write when people leave reviews. Remember, criticism and flames are welcomed so please go right ahead. The next chapter will be up soon, so get ready for Chapter 3: First Drop.


	3. First Drop

1**Emblem Company**

Firedude: Chapter three up and running, sorry this one took a little longer to get up, had PSAT's. Thank you once again for the reviews, I value the support.

Rayestar Ikina: I think I understand what you're talking about, I'll give it a try in this chapter. Please tell me if I did it right or wrong.

Master of The Game: Wait no longer here it is! Who're your favorites though?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters. I apologize for any historical inaccuracies that might occur in this story.

Firedude: Here it goes, Chapter three! Ready? Set? On with the show!

**Chapter 3: First Drop**

**Fort Bragg, North Carolina, October 14****th**** 1942**

The 82nd Airborne division piled into trains the morning of October 14th. Their destination, Fort Bragg North Carolina. They had completed their basic training at Camp Claiborne and their superiors thought it was time for the real training. Everyone had thought it was bad news. Their training had been so hard already, what was considered the real training?

"Mark, hey Mark!" he opened his eyes to see Guy was leaning over him, still tapping the side of his head, trying to wake him up. Mark had fallen asleep early on in the ride, since they had boarded the trains at around 4 A.M. Mark groaned as he pushed Guy away and sat up from the bench he was laying on. He remembered he was sharing a bench with Lucius. He looked over to see that the medic had vanished.

"What happened to Lucius?" Mark asked as he rubbed the side of his neck, aching from sleeping in a bad position.

"He went to the diner car with Raven, water?" Guy offered extending a canteen to him.

"No thanks." Mark grumbled waving his hand. As Guy took a few sips of his water, Mark looked around the train car to see who else was around. Dorcas and Bartre were in a booth in the corner car playing cards with Sain and Kent. Hawkeye was sitting in another nearby booth talking about something with pent, but they were whispering too soft for Mark to make anything out. In another corner of the car, the female squad was all sitting together gossiping about what they had heard was going on with the other female squads. Elbert, Uther, Hector and another squad member Mark had met recently, Eliwood, were all sitting together talking. Eliwood was Elbert's son and a Corporal in first squad, that probably explained why they were together speaking. But Eliwood seems very stiff around his father, like they're uncomfortable, Hector at least kids around with his brother. It was best not to question how their family worked though, Mark assumed.

Mark continued his reconaissance of the train car. Mark didn't really get to know too many of the members of the other squads, but he recognized a few people. Canas was in the corner reading a book, struggling to read some of the words without his monocle. Elbert had been bashing Canas so much about it, calling him a cyclops and such he just got fed up with it and stashed it away. Staff sergeant Fargus, the head of first squad, was sitting with Dart and Geitz. The three of them seemed to know each other quite well, though the details of how and why are sketchy, it's clear they're close. Matthew was at another booth nearby, talking with a few other guys from his squad, Rath, Erk and Heath. Him and Matthew were still at odds. Despite months of training together no friendship had formed between the two. The only thing that was stopping Mark from slugging Matthew in the eye was Guy who had become one of his best friends here.

Another familiar face Mark recognized, Wil. He was sitting at a booth at the other end of the car, talking to Legault and Harken... if you can call it talking that is. Legault and Harken looked like they had enough, but neither of them could get the chance to interject and tell him that. Wil had gained a reputation for lacking the ability of shutting up. He can talk endlessly and no matter what subject your talking about, it always seems like he has his own hour long segment planned. He was one of the platoon's snipers, along with another girl from 4th squad, Rebecca. Wil definitely was no where near the stereotypical sniper imagined by soldiers. Everyone pictured snipers as loners who barely talked, not Wil. Raven or Jaffar would probably fit stereotype better... speaking of which. Mark turned back towards Guy, to see that Raven and Lucius had returned from the diner car and was sitting with them once more.

"Where is Jaffar?" Mark asked Guy, looking over the car one more time. Everyone in the car was accounted for except for him.

"You know I'm not sure. I swear that I'm sure that I saw him when we were boarding... but I don't think I've seen him since." No one in the platoon knew shit about Jaffar. Everyone knew something about someone in the platoon, nothing on Jaffar though. One day back at Claiborne, a few of the guys asked Pent about him, he knew just as little as they all did. The only person who he was ever seen talking to him was this girl Nino from 4th squad, but even when they were talking it was off to the side where no one could hear them. Mark drummed his fingers on the table thinking something over. He looked over at Jaffar's booth, he was gone and his bag was sitting on the bench. Mark looked around, then back to Guy.

"I'll be right back." He said as he rose from the bench and started to sneak over towards Jaffar's booth.

"Mark! What the hell are you doing!?" Guy called after him in a hushed whisper. Mark ignored him though and ducked down into Jaffar's booth. He took a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, besides Guy, Raven and Lucius who were fearing for Mark's life. If Jaffar came back and saw him rummaging through his bag, he'd probably stab him to death with that knife he was oh so fond of. Mark carefully undid the latch on the bag and began to look through his stuff. Nothing. Not a journal, not any pictures, nothing that could be personal to him, nothing. He just had the basic necessities a soldier was given. The only thing that drew any of Mark's attention was the knife, sheathed in a leather holder. Mark looked over his shoulder towards the train car door to make sure Jaffar wasn't coming and he silently took the knife out of the bag. He carefully pulled the dagger from the sheath and looked over it's pristine form. It was perfect, made from a bright metal, not a single chip or scratch on the blade. He flipped the knife over, to the side with the blade lettering etched into the side.

Mark's heart nearly stopped. Mark was only able to speak English, but he was sure that he recognized German when he saw it. In big bold black letters the words, **Schwarzer Giftzahn**, shown on the blade. Mark quickly resheathed it and returned it to the bag. He closed the bag up and went back to the seat. He sat down in silence for a minute, taking out his canteen and taking a small sip from it.

"So?" Mark looked across the booth to Raven.

"So what?"

"Did you find anything out?" Mark sat there in silence for another few seconds thinking this over. Mark couldn't jump to conclusions, for all he knew, Jaffar was just of German background. Then again, he could also be a spy...

"No, nothing about him. He's like some kind of ghost." Raven let out an amused laugh and replied,

"You shoulda stole that knife of his, bet that'd get him to talk." though Mark was looking raven right in the eyes, he was ignoring what he was saying. He needed to get some answers, and quick. If Jaffar was there to hurt the war effort, he needed to stop this before he could do damage. And if he wasn't here to hurt them, he needed to clear this up before others found out and got the wrong idea. Mark turned and looked to the back corner of the car to where all the women were. If Mark was going to get any answers there was only one person he could get them from. Mark silently rose from his chair and walked off towards the back of the train car. Lyn saw him coming and smiled as she flagged him down.

"Hey Mark, you need something?" Mark needed to say this right, so he wouldn't cast suspicion.

"Yeah, the Company lieutenant sent me here to get Nino. He said he needed to speak with her." All the girls turned and looked to Nino at once. Nino just looked around between all them confused and with a blush.

"W-What!? I didn't do anything! He probably is just going to scold me for packing sloppily or something." Nino rose from her seat and walked with Mark to the door that lead to the next car. Luckily for Mark, the next car over was practically empty, except for a few soldiers near the back end. Nino looked around the car and then turned towards Mark.

"Umm... where is he?" Mark motioned toward a nearby empty booth and said,

"Have a seat, I need to talk to you about something." Nino's eyes squinted a little into a suspicious stare and started to turn.

"Right... I'm going to go back now." She said as she turned and started to walk back towards the train car door.

'Shit! I'm losing her! This may be my only chance to ask her! I gotta take a chance!' Mark put on a serious expression and took a step after her.

"I know!" Nino stopped in her tracks and turned back towards Mark with an eyebrow raised. She crossed her arms and kept her eyes squinted towards him, still suspicious.

"Know what?" She asked curiously, taking a few steps towards him.

"I saw Jaffar's knife..." Nino stood there silent for a minute before she took a seat and spoke in a defeated tone,

"What did you want to talk about...?" Mark sat down across from her and folded his hands in front of him.

"I care about the people in my platoon. I want to make sure everyone here stays safe and that as many of them can get back home as possible. If either you or Jaffar are getting in the way of that, I'll bring you two down..." Nino looked up at Mark with sad eyes and a frown, catching Mark off guard. He was expecting her to be a little more fierce than this if she was a spy.

"Please! Please don't tell anyone! Me and Jaffar left Germany when the Nazi's took over. Jaffar was serving in the military at that time, he felt what Hitler was doing was right for the motherland. But I pleaded for him to leave with me, but he was difficult. Then he saw the atrocities Hitler was committing in the name of reviving Germany, and Jaffar knew it wasn't what he wanted. So we came here, I learned English at a young age so I was able to do all the speaking for the two of us. That's why he doesn't speaks so much, he still only knows German. Jaffar felt like we were running away though, and said that the only way to save Germany was to eliminate the Nazis... so here we are now, signed up with the U.S. army..."

Mark was speechless, he definitely wasn't expecting that story. He was expecting her to either deny everything, or threaten him, or something! She could be lying, but she was crying and seemed very emotional about the whole thing. Mark would let this slide for now, but he'd definitely be keeping an eye on them.

"H-Hey! Please don't cry! I'm sorry, I won't tell anyone, I just wanted to make sure that your intentions were good." Nino wiped away her tears and gave Mark a smile. She released a small gasp when she saw Jaffar coming.

"You better go! Jaffar's very protective, he might take it the wrong way if he sees us talking." Mark nodded and rose from the bench, walking back through the door to his car. He stopped once he passed through the door though and pressed his ear against it, trying to listen in on what they were saying.

"Was war das daruber?"

"Er sagte mir, dass ich fur den Versorgungsvertrieb gefragt bin."

"Hmm, Sie, vorsichtig sein, nehmen Leute freundlich zu uns nicht, wenn sie wissen, wer wir sind."

"Ja, natürlich."

Mark quickly hid behind a nearby crate as the door opened and Jaffar and Nino walked through. They returned to their respective seats and continued on as though nothing was wrong. If only Mark could understand German... He couldn't worry about that now though. Nino could've been lying for all he knew, but he needed to trust his fellow soldiers for now or he might not make it through the war. Mark returned to his seat and patiently waited for the train to pull into the station.

A few minutes later they arrived at the station. Everyone flew out of the train, duffel bags in tow as they made their way towards the nearby fort. As all the troops made their way through the station, Pent ran out of the train with a milk crate under his arm. He placed it down on the ground and stood up on top of it.

"Everyone! Once you make it to the base, find your barracks immediately! We will be commencing jump training this afternoon, so be prepared!" Everyone immediately began to talk about it. They all knew they were joining the airborne, but I think it finally set in for most that they were actually going to be jumping out of an airplane. Mark wasn't feeling so bad about that, he knew jumping out of a plane would be the least of his worries once he actually made it to a battlefield.

"Mark! Did you hear that!? We're finally jumping out of planes!" Sain asked with a grin as he patted Mark on the shoulder.

"Why are you so excited? I remember you saying that you were scared shit less to jump out of those?" Kent said catching up, carrying both his bag and Sain's which he left on the train.

"Well I am afraid, but hey-!" As they walked through the entrance to the fort, Sain pointed over to a group of women who were surrounding a man with a set of silver paratrooper wings pinned to his chest.

"Once we complete those jumps, we'll be fully recognized paratroopers... and the ladies love the paratroopers." Sain said with a grin nudging Mark in the side. Mark and Kent said shook their heads, both asking themselves if Sain's only reason for coming to the army was to meet women.

A few hours later, Mark found himself sitting up in a C-47 airplane along with the rest of 3rd squad. Pent stood at the back of the plane, his hand on the frame of the open door as he yelled over the engine to convey his message.

"This will be the first of seven jumps you'll be taking as your final test! You've practiced up until this moment for this, and if you complete these jumps you'll have the honor of calling yourselves Airborne!" The air filling the plane was a mixture of tension and excitement, everyone was ready to become airborne, they were prepared to earn their wings. However, thoughts of things going wrong kept zipping through everyone's heads. In fact, Mark saw Bartre lean over to Dorcas and yelled over the engine,

"What if we're shot down!?" Dorcas just looked over at him and shook his head before replying,

"We're in North Carolina! I don't think there is any kraut anti-aircraft guns here!" Everyone on the plane laughed to themselves. Bartre wasn't the brightest of the bunch, he dropped out of High School after being held back in 9th grade... for four years. Not seeing too much of a future for himself anywhere else, he joined the army. Mark soon found himself thinking about stories everyone else in the squad told. Dorcas didn't talk too much, but one thing he would always find something to talk about was his girl back home. Sain and Kent always talked about how Sain would always drag Kent along to peep in on girls getting changed or something and Sain would always slip away whenever they were caught, leaving Kent to take the punishment. Lucius would tell us how he was bullied in High School, but Raven would always kick the snot out of them. Hawkeye ran away from home at an early age and found himself at an Indian reservation, he was raised by them ever since. Jaffar... he probably had some pretty interesting stories, if he was comfortable with telling us. And then their fearless leader, Pent. Pent seemed like some kind of unstoppable machine. During running routines that would make the whole squad keel over and pass out, Pent would be smiling and ready to do it again. At the shooting range, it seemed like he had perfect accuracy with whatever gun he picked up, American or German. If Pent did have one weakness it was Louise. She's a Private first class over in the 4th squad, and his wife. They were married before the war, and Louise said it would kill her wondering if he would come back alive or dead, so she signed up herself. Pent would give anything to protect her.

Just then, the red light over near the open doorway flashed red and Pent turned towards his squad.

"Stand up!" Pent's commanding voice rang through the plane as everyone quickly rose to their feet, facing towards him.

"Hook up!" Everyone took the metal hook's connected to their parachute pack and attached it to the rail above their heads.

"Equipment check!" Everyone quickly checked the chute of the man in front of them to make sure it was okay. The checks were done, they sounded off down the line.

"10 okay!"

"9 okay!"

"8 okay!"

"7 okay!"

"6 okay!"

"5 okay!"

"4 okay!"

"3 okay!"

"2 okay!"

"1 okay!" Pent ended off as he peered out of the open door towards the ground, spotting several green smoke signals dotting the land scape. He then pointed up towards the red light by the door and yelled,

"When the light turns green, you jump! Just keep moving, don't stop, don't think! When you jump, aim yourself so you land near the green smoke! In a real battle, the green smoke is a signal that it's safe to land there!" The light suddenly turned bright green and Pent yelled out, "Go go go!" everyone quickly threw themselves out the door, one after another. When Mark's turn came up, he felt hesitation start to rise up in him, but he forced himself to jump. A rude jerking pulled at his back as he fell from the open door. He closed his eyes at first expecting to feel himself plummet to the ground any second. But it never came. He opened his eyes and looked up to see the chute had indeed opened and he was now filled with this light feeling. He knew he would have a while before he would even touch the ground so he looked around the landscape. The sun was setting and rays were shining across the land. From where he was, Mark could see all the farms and buildings for miles around. The brights colors of the autumn leaves only added to the scenery. Everything looked so beautiful. Mark was so distracted by it though, he almost didn't see the ground as it was coming up.

"Mark! Pay attention!" He looked over to the side to see Pent floating down alongside him. He snapped back to reality just in time and steered himself towards the nearby green smoke. His landing was a little less than graceful. He touched down and was actually pulled a few yards along the ground by the wind blowing his chute, before Mark was actually able to pull it back in. Pent walked over to him and patted him on the back.

"Not bad for your first jump Corporal." hours later, after the last six jumps were completed, the whole company was gathered at the mess hall for an initiation party. The sound of clanking glasses and music filled the air, along with the heavy smell of beer and cigarettes. It was quite a sight to behold to be honest. A crowd had formed around Dorcas and Bartre who were locked tight in an arm wrestling match, neither of them getting any leeway. All the guys who were still sober enough to speak full sentences were flirting with the women. Sain's attempts of convincing Farina to dance with him weren't going so well, while Kent was in the corner making out on one of the benches, both of them drunk out of their minds. Erk grumbled as he danced with Serra, she said she wouldn't leave him alone until they danced just a little, so he gave in. Mark sat at a table with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and beer next to him. He took a second to adjust the silver wing pin on his chest before taking another sip of beer. He watched with a grin as he watched Guy try to out drink Rath. Guy clearly had never drank before because he was having a hard time holding his liquor, while Rath continued to just down one cup after another. Mark's eyes wandered over to the dance floor again and saw Hector was dancing with Lyn. Mark frowned a little, he felt a little sad it wasn't him dancing with her, but really? Hector? He wasn't expecting him to be Lyn's type, he was a bit too rowdy.

Mark noticed Jaffar was sitting alone in the corner, lightly sipping on a beer. Jaffar grimaced as he saw the glass was now empty, but he felt hesitant to go get a new beer, because that would mean he'd have to come in contact with the others. Mark rose from his chair and walked over to Jaffar, offering him his beer. "Um... beer?" Jaffar silently took the cup and took a sip of it. Mark stood there for a minute, feeling awkward. He motioned over towards the table of men having a drinking contest and asked, "Would you like to join us?" Jaffar looked over towards the table and saw all the beer and simply nodded. He rose up to his feet and walked over towards the table. He took a seat across from Matthew and they all went silent.

"...Is this real? Am I actually seeing Jaffar right in front of me!?" Matthew asked waving a hand in front of his own face. Jaffar just silently moved a full beer in front of himself and one in front of Matthew.

"What? You wanna drink? Heh! Fine by me! I'm gonna drink you under the table buddy!" And just like that, Jaffar and Matthew began to knock them back one after another. Each had down about seven beers already and they were both starting to lose their cool. Jaffar clearly had the advantage at the moment, still being able to drink without spilling any of his beer. Mark couldn't help but laugh to himself.

'I guess German's really are good drinkers.' A few beers later, Matthew was on the floor passed out a Jaffar silently raised his fist in victory, a drunk grin spread across his face. Everyone around was clapping and whistling for him, surprised he actually out drank Matthew. Jaffar opened his mouth to speak and Mark's eyes widened. He quickly slipped a hand over his mouth and pulled him up.

"What's that Jaffar? You need to go lay down? Okay I'll help you!" Mark said with a nervous grin as he lead Jaffar towards the doorway. The other fell for it, too drunk to think otherwise.

'Dammit! I should've thought about this before! He probably forgets people hate Germans when he's drunk!' Mark lead Jaffar out of the mess hall and towards his barrack. Just as Mark had predicted, Jaffar laughed and began to ramble on in German.

"Sie wissen was? Sie sind ein großer Mann." Mark was doing his best to try to make Jaffar keep his voice down, but he kept on talking. Jaffar spotted the star of David hanging from Mark's neck and laughed.

"Sie sind ein Jude? Ich fühle mich krank, um so viele von Ihnen, Sie zu töten, Kerle sind ganz richtig." Mark finally got his hand over Jaffar's mouth again as he continued to drag him back towards the barracks. Meanwhile, back at the party Elbert stood in the back of the room, watching Pent dance with Louise. Pent spotted the sergeant and gave him a nod. He kissed Louise and quickly went to go join him.

"Did you hear about this Pent?" Pent's smile quickly faded and he nodded in reply.

"Yes sir I did... we shouldn't tell them now." Elbert nodded with a grim expression and replied,

"Right, make sure everyone knows tomorrow morning... it's imperative that everyone's ready to be deployed."

Firedude: There's chapter three, to those of you out there who can read German, sorry if my grammar or spelling might've been wrong, I think it's okay, but if not please tell me. Chapter 4 will be up soon, **Preparing for Husky**.


End file.
